Dark Before Light
by Dragonsroses
Summary: After the Kerberos mission failed, Katie refused to believe that her brother and father are dead. She swears that she will find them. But just what does she have to go through before she can set herself on the right path? (THE REST OF FIC IS ON A03: archiveofourown . org /works /12679566 /chapters /28908126 )
1. Chapter 1

The small room held a cold atmosphere as it was drenched in the night's smothering darkness. It was late, but that didn't stop the curtains from being drawn shut. Their only purpose being to halt any source of intruding light from the glowing moon or twinkling stars. It would only serve to disrupt the young teen's concentration.

 _"The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing and all crew members are believed to be dead. The Galaxy Garrison has said the crash was presumably caused by 'pilot error'. It is indeed a sad day for all of humanity."_

"No." She had told herself firmly that night. " _'Pilot error?'_ That's impossible."

Now, Katie sat cross-legged over her bed. The only light in the room coming from her laptop's screen. The glow allowed shadows to shield parts of her face, coincidentally causing a menacing glare to reflect across her, once bright, features. Her hazel eyes were hard and focused while her long fingers moved with rapid precision over the keyboard.

'Pilot error' was too vague. 'Pilot error' is what the Garrison told them. 'Pilot error' was what the media said.

Not even the family of two out of the three crew members received any further information beyond those two words. No details. No explanation. Just 'pilot error'.

Katie was sick of hearing those words.

She didn't believe it.

All three crew members were more than capable of a mission gathering ice samples from one of Pluto's moons. Her dad, Sam, was one of the best scientists at the Garrison and had years of experience going into space. Matt, like Katie, was a genius despite his age. Being selected for the Kerberos mission was a major accomplishment. And Takashi Shirogane. Matt and her dad told her plenty of stories about their pilot, and third crew member. They talked about him like he was a legend. Surely, he wouldn't have taken any large risks. Not on such an important mission.

No. There was more that the Garrison knew. More that they're not telling anyone. Katie knew that much, but it wasn't enough.

Her hazel orbs read each code and algorithm as fast as it appeared on her screen. Her eyes moved almost as fast as her hands. A burning sense of desperation coursed through her veins. She had grown used to this feeling, but never got sick of it. It was the fuel she used to continue her search late into the nights through the early mornings.

She has gone over every piece of collected data numerous times. Has hacked as much of the Galaxy Garrison's database as she could from just her laptop, and more.

To be honest, it seemed like the Garrison hardly cared.

Commander Iverson, in particular, didn't seem empathetic in the slightest after Matt and her dad went missing. Even when speaking to her mom, who still had tears in her lashes and puffy red eyes. Even when they were being told in person that they had just lost two of the people they loved most in the world. Instead, Commander Iverson held his head high and did not falter, stating facts that they already knew from the media.

Ultimately, Katie decided that she hated that man.

Her hands suddenly jerked away from the keyboard. Her left hand reached for the notepad that sat beside her while her right hand was already clicking the top of a pen. Her mind kept its concentration as her eyes shifted from her screen to her notepad repeatedly as she jotted down notes.

When her pen reached the bottom right corner of the paper, she tore the piece from the gum binding the several papers together, and continued writing on the one beneath it.

It wasn't enough, but it was information. Katie knew that she would have to get into the Garrison to access their computers if she wanted to gain more sufficient data. She would do it, and she wouldn't leave without a solid lead.

It's been weeks since her family went missing, but who knows what could have happened to them in those weeks. The possibilities were endless and that mere thought caused Katie to grit her teeth as a sense of dread threatened to fill her stomach. But like always, she keeps searching.

Uniquely, almost every person she's run into thus far has tried talking to her about her loss. Though everything they say to Katie is filled with nothing but pity and a false sense of understanding.

They all believe the news reports. They believe that Matthew Holt, Samuel Holt and Takashi Shirogane, all highly trained and capable individuals, are dead without raising any questions about the supposed 'pilot error'. Everyone accepted it so easily. It seemed like Katie was the only one who refused to accept the Garrison's vague story. She was alone in this fight.

However, her mom doesn't know about her theory yet. She wants to gain a solid lead first, not more insufficient data, which lacked any strong evidence to support her theory. She needed a solid thread of hope.

Stray hair fell across Katie's face as she worked, but she didn't bother to brush it out of the way. She ignored it in favour of what was in front of her.

She shifted in her spot as she placed, now two pieces of paper, coated with her writing and numbers, to the side. She was hardly getting any specifics, which made the progress in her search unbearably slow.

A few minutes later, Katie finally ripped her eyes away from her laptop and reached over to her nightstand to grab the miniature flashlight that she kept there. Gathering her strewn notes, she hopped off her bed to make her way across the small room to her desk. She gripped its edges and soundlessly hoisted herself up.

Now standing atop her desk, Katie turned on the small light and balanced it between her teeth, so she could pin the new notes on her board. She didn't want to turn on her room light and risk her mother potentially coming into her room, only to find her daughter resolute and sleep deprived. Colleen would only begin to worry even more.

Once the notes were secured, Katie scrutinized its' places amongst everything else on the board before slightly moving a few things around.

Jumping off her desk, the teen took a few steps back. She shone the light at the board, subconsciously narrowing her eyes as she examined every small piece of paper, every newspaper clipping and every picture held onto the board with paper clips and pins, all trying to connect into a bigger picture with a red string.

Katie's eyes darted over each object she had on the board. It was smaller than she wanted it to be and there wasn't as much data as she hoped there to be, but she would make it bigger and connect the dots.

After all, it was all she had to find her family.

And in the dead of night, with unwavering eyes, she whispered, "Don't worry. I'll find you both."


	2. Continue reading on AO3

**For some reason I can't seem to update this story. Check out my ao3 account for the rest of this fic**

 **AO3: /users/dragonroses/works**


End file.
